This was an atmospheric Christmas read with strange characters, a surprise death and eerie happenings that chilled me to the bone. A perfect Christmas mystery! Peter Swanson is so good at creating creepy dread and throwing in red herrings to divert the reader's attention. Is this a romance? A murder mystery? A gothic thriller? A horror story? It's all of those.

Told primarily in the first-person from diary entries, The Christmas Guest initially finds us in New York City to the apartment of a woman with no family and who spends Christmas alone. Every year. When she was in college in England, you see, there was a house party over the holidays, and what happened there changed the lives of everyone involved forever, and severed the ties of those left standing.

Well-written (odd, coming from a male author writing from the POV of a teenage protagonist) and full of ambience, The Christmas Guest takes the reader through every girlish emotion and silly sidenote while never letting you forget that there could be a very real danger lurking under all of the angsty nonsense. Not a festive read, but definitely seasonal.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚-𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙇𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮’𝙨 𝘾𝙤𝙩𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙨, 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡, 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙜𝙚’𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙢 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮.

This was such a quick and simple holiday novella. I haven’t read too many holiday thrillers so I was excited to pick this one up.

I’ve only read one book by this author before and I enjoyed it, unfortunately, this one was just okay. I don’t know if it being a novella affected it. I did, however, enjoy the atmospheric and gothic feeling the story had.

It’s a short novella (only a little over 100 pages), I felt like the mystery itself wasn’t as interesting nor did the characters bring too much to the story. Also, there are quite a few diary entries throughout the book, I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of them. Overall, this short novella set in a small English village was a quick read.

Thank you so much NetGalley and William Morrow for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

I love the idea of novellas for Christmas-themed stories. It's a busy time of year, so being able to sit down and finish a book in an evening is an unexpected delight!

Ashley Smith, an American at a London university, finds herself with no plans for Christmas, when classmate Emma Chapman offers to have her for the week at her family's Cotswold house. Ashley is excited, a proper British Christmas in a manor house! She is a little surprised, she didn't really think Emma liked her, but obviously she misjudged her.

There is an air of foreboding as Ashley goes to the Chapman family house, with the disagreeable parents, and Emma's twin brother a suspect in an unsolved murder. But none of this really dims Ashley's enthusiasm for her English Christmas adventure!

This was a fun and quick read, and I really enjoyed it, in part because of it's length! Thank you to NetGalley, Peter Swanson, and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️s rounded up

A bite-sized Christmas thriller at ~100 pages!

Okay so I thought this was really odd at first and I had to put down my audiobook version (hated the accent) and pick up my e-galley because I was committed to buddy reading this and it’s super short. I stuck with it and it got me way more suspenseful and intriguing! I kinda loved how most of the story was told through journal entries. The ending did feel a little unsatisfying and I wanted more! I also purchased a physical version of this book.

Thank you to William Morrow, the author, and NetGalley for the e-galley!

I really enjoyed this story! It was a fun, suspenseful, quick read. I loved how the sorry unfolded throughout Ashley's diary entries. I did NOT expect that ending, but I liked it. If you're expecting a lighthearted Christmas story, this is not it.

This book was definitely a rollercoaster for me for sure! I felt that the beginning of this book was very slow and kind of hard to get into at first because of all of the filler scenes. I also didn’t really care for the storyline at the beginning and had a hard time connecting with the characters at first. However, towards the middle of the book, the plot definitely started to pick up for me and the plot twist halfway through the book had me shocked. Overall, I loved how short and quick paced this Christmas murder mystery book was, even though the beginning felt kind of slow for me, and I thought it was a nice short book to close out my 2023 reading with!

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review!

The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson was a fun, murderous Christmas novella. I recommend it to anyone who wants a Christmas book, but not looking for a romance. A Twisty, fun read.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this Christmas novella! I didn't know where it was going when it started in NYC, but I loved the journal entries as a plot device. The dark, gothic house in rural England really added to the atmosphere and even though it was Christmas which should be jolly, it still had a very creepy feeling. I need more Christmas thrillers next year!

Thank you @williammorrowbooks for the gifted ebook.

Thank you NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

This short book is more of a novella. Turn off the TV and phone for an evening and you will be able to begin and finish this book in one sitting. It is interesting enough to keep you reading.

American student, Ashley, is studying in London. Having no close family left in the U.S. she intends to stay in London for Christmas. That is until her new friend and fellow student, Emma Chapman, invites her to spend Christmas with her family in the Cotswolds at their ‘manor house’.

This is where things become a Gothic horror story. Nothing is as it seems.
The first part of the story is told from Ashley’s point of view. The second half is from Emma’s perspective.

This is an interesting story and I think you will enjoy it.

A perfectly fine holiday read. This one went quickly and was page-turning. I will say that the second half was darker than I thought a holiday read would be, but the mystery was solid.

Swanson packs a lot into this atmospheric Christmas mystery. The story has two parts, a present and past, with the past told via a diary and surprisingly I liked the story told in a diary format. This is a solid delivery with an unexpected twist and well-defined characters for a short story. Highly recommend to Swanson fans and suggest reading in one sitting to immerse yourself into the tale.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and William Morrow in exchange for an honest review.

Ashley Smith is abroad in England ready to spend her Christmas break alone when her classmate, Emma Chapman, invites her to her family's manor home. Ashley heads to the vast estate outside the city and finds a gorgeous estate ready to celebrate Christmas and a mysterious death. She meets Emma's family, and quickly develops an attraction to her brother Adam. Ashley learns more about the recent unsolved murder and its potential connection to the Chapman family as she tries to enjoy the holiday.

Peter Swanson delivers a quick novella that delivers in building out a world and then flipping everything on its head with the short book's numerous twists. The diary style of the majority of the novella gave it a unique spin, with the reader getting to piece together Ashley's story from what she told her dear Diary and the mysteries surrounding the Chapman family. Peter Swanson fans will enjoy a shortened version of his usually great twisty thrillers and it is a nice cozy Christmas story to enjoy. I wish the story was longer to flesh out the characters and mystery a bit more but it is pleasant to have such a fast paced read.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for a copy of The Christmas Guest in exchange for an honest review.

American in London Art Student Ashley Smith is invited to spend the holidays with classmate Emma Chapman at her big country home. Ashley is expecting the traditional English Christmas and finds herself wrapped up in a murder.

This is the Holiday Mystery/Story for people who love and hate Christmas, and perfect for cozying up over the holidays for one-sitting mystery read.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC!

I've had fun reading a few mysteries for Christmas this year!

As an American art student in England, Ashley is planning to spend Christmas alone until her classmate, Emma invites her to her families' manor in the country. All of it seems incredible, including Emma's twin brother, Adam, who Ashley crushes on.

Adam might not be all that Ashley thinks since the police are investigating him for murder. However, she is convinced it was the strange man she sees in the woods who killed a local girl. This family has secrets. What really happened? Who is protecting who?

I gave this novella ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. It had lots of twists and turns and kept me guessing. I liked the way the book was split into two completely different sections. It was a fun and quick read in this chaotic month!

Thank you to William Morrow and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This was my first Christmas novella so I really had no idea what to expect. It really packed a bunch for such a short-read, especially the first-half. I'm not one who usually pays much attention to how the setting contributes to feel of the book, but even I have to say that I found this book to be plenty atmospheric. I also found the main characters to be plenty naive which made the overall book fall a little short for me. The twist did make up for that bit some though and overall I'd pick up another holiday Swanson novella if he releases one! Not like it was a question if I'd pick up another Swanson book...just over here patiently waiting for A TALENT FOR MURDER to release this summer!

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for my ARC!

It’s hard to find a spooky Christmas read but this one was a great option. Peter Swanson is great at keeping you guessing and the set up for this book was very unique and surprising

In general Christmas novellas are not where you are going to discover an author’s best work and I definitely think that is true for Peter Swanson. But this novella did exactly what it set out to do…it entertained me for Christmas Eve while I waited for my kids to fall asleep and I could fill their stockings. I love the country manor setting and I love the diary entries. I even loved the flash forward in time in the second half. Was it completely unpredictable? No of course not. But it was fun and had a definite Christmas setting and it was written well. My main complaint is that I HATE long chapters. I understand why this only has 2 chapters, but man my enjoyment would have gone up if there were at least 4 or possibly 8 chapters.

I haven’t read any books by this author but had heard lots of good things about him. This book bored me to the point where I only read half of it. I felt like it was required reading and just didn’t like it.

TW: Language, drinking, drugs, cheating, violence, blood, sexual assault, depression, anxiety, smoking, toxic parent relationships, blood, toxic friendships

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. The Cotswold manor house, festooned in pine boughs and crammed with guests for Christmas week, is a dream come true for Ashley. She is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma's aloof and handsome brother.

But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Is she in a grand romance? A gothic tale? Or has she wandered into something far more sinister and terrifying than she'd ever imagined?

Over thirty years later the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmas seasons later.
Release Date: September 28th, 2023
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 104
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Writing was good

What I Didn't Like:
1. Felt generic
2. Too too short

Overall Thoughts:
Sometimes you read a book and it feels too long and sometimes it feels too short. In this case this book was too short with the most basic things happening. There is no mystery within these pages and you're never caught off guard. It reads so fast that it's over before you know it.

The characters are annoying and needy. No one to root for. Right out the door you're shows that Ashley Smith is the kind of person that would sleep with a man that her friend is interested in. Our siblings have no redeeming qualities either. One is a murderer and the other just goes along with her jealousy and what her brother wants.

Things are never explained why. Why did Emma and Adam stop talking shortly after the murder of Ashley? We are just thrown into the future where Adam is a murderer and Emma decides that because non of these murders benefit her she might as well take her brother down. It all felt very - okay well that happens to me.

Final Thoughts:
I should say that I am not the biggest fan of Peter Swanson. I personally find his stories to be swayed by storylines from other movies and books. He also tends to ruin plots for other things in his books, which is very rude to say the least.

This book was just meh. There is nothing great or bad it just exists.